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3.
The downward
spiral of Judges
✤
Rebellion
“The Israelites did evil in the sight
of the Lord.”
✤
Repression
“God delivered (or sold) them into
the hand of . . .”
✤
Repentance
“Then they cried out to the Lord.”
✤
Restoration
“And the land had peace for xx
years.”
3

4.
The downward
spiral of Judges
✤
The cumulative effect of repeated
rebellion against God.
✤
The restoration point is lower each
time.
✤
Sin leaves its mark which only
righteous living can erase.
4

5.
The downward
spiral of Judges
Two pictures of spiritual and
moral corruption.
✤
Judges 17-18 Micah employs a
Levite to be a priest to his
household idols.
✤
Judges 19-21 The city of Gibeah is
as evil as the city of Sodom.
✤
The people became like the
depraved gods they worshipped.
5

6.
The Judges
✤
The Judges were primarily military
leaders.
✤
The Israelite situation after the
conquest.
✤
Failed to conquer all that God had
instructed.
✤
Surrounded by hostile kingdoms.
✤
Their enemies were greater in
number and technologically more
advanced - iron weapons.
6

7.
The Judges
Gideon
✤
Gideon raised an army of 32,000
✤
“The Lord said to Gideon, “You
have too many men for Me to
deliver Midian into their hands. In
order that Israel may not boast
against Me that her own strength
has saved her,” (Judges 7:2, NIV84)
✤
22,000 released because they were
frightened.
✤
300 chosen by the way they drank.
7

8.
The Judges
Gideon
✤
The Lord spread panic among the
Midian army who ran away.
✤
Gideon becomes the saviour of
Israel but afterwards makes an idol
to worship.
✤
“Gideon made the gold into an
ephod, which he placed in Ophrah,
his town. All Israel prostituted
themselves by worshiping it there,
and it became a snare to Gideon
and his family.”
(Judges 8:27, NIV84)
8

9.
The Judges
Deborah
✤
12 judges, one is a woman,
Deborah.
✤
Deborah was a prophetess and
leader in patriarchal society.
✤
One of the few godly judges.
9

11.
Judges
Samson
✤
Samson was a Nazirite from birth.
✤
Nazirite - dedicated to God, never cut the hair,
never drinks wine.
✤
“The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said,
“You are sterile and childless, but you are going
to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that
you drink no wine or other fermented drink and
that you do not eat anything unclean, because
you will conceive and give birth to a son. No
razor may be used on his head, because the boy
is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth,
and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from
the hands of the Philistines.”
(Judges 13:3–5, NIV84)
11

12.
Judges
Samson
✤
Samson was to be a deliverer of
Israel.
✤
His life was a picture of Israel.
✤
His mission was ruined by his
head strong self will and carnal
nature.
✤
When his hair was cut his
dedication to God was broken. The
Holy Spirit no longer gave him
supernatural strength.
12

13.
Judges
Samson
✤
“So he told her everything. “No
razor has ever been used on my
head,” he said, “because I have
been a Nazirite set apart to God
since birth. If my head were
shaved, my strength would leave
me, and I would become as weak
as any other man.”
(Judges 16:17, NIV84)
13

14.
Judges
Samson
✤
Samson strength was not natural.
✤
Samson looked normal.
✤
His enemies could not understand
where his strength came from.
✤
Samson was a picture of Israel;
small weak dependent on the
power of the Lord to defeat its
enemies.
14

15.
Judges
Samson
✤
“The Spirit of the Lord came upon
him. . . “
✤
Samson’s immorality caused his
complete downfall exactly mirroring
Israel’s downfall.
✤
“Yet they would not listen to their
judges but prostituted themselves to
other gods and worshipped them.
Unlike their fathers, they quickly
turned from the way in which their
fathers had walked, the way of
obedience to the Lord’s commands.”
(Judges 2:17, NIV84)
15

16.
Judges
Samson
✤
“But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit
to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their
own devices.
“If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my
ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my
hand against their foes!
Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their
punishment would last forever.
But you would be fed with the ﬁnest of wheat; with honey from
the rock I would satisfy you.”
(Psalm 81:11–16, NIV84)
16

17.
The Failure to Listen and Obey
✤
When we fail to listen we miss
out on what God has prepared
for us.
✤
The tragedy of self-willed
action is the loss of what might
have been if only we had
stopped to listen.
✤
Failing to listen and obey was
the underlying cause of all the
sin and suffering recorded in
Judges.
17

18.
The Failure to Listen and Obey
✤
God will let you go ahead and
do things your own way and in
your own strength but you will
miss out on much of what God
planned for you.
✤
If we do things God’s way He
will get the glory.
18